The Hall has made its decision and that decision runs counter to the player’s wishes: Andre Dawson will enter the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expo.

Dawson began his career in Montreal and put in 11 years of awesome, good time baseball before moving to Chicago to play with the worst baseball franchise in the history of worst baseball franchises.

“I’m disappointed,” Dawson told the ESPN Radio affiliate. “I can proudly say that because Chicago was my preference.”

A quick comparison:
Montreal: 1443 games, .280/.326/.476/.802, 225 HRs, 1 Rookie of the Year award, 6 Gold Gloves
Chicago: 867 games, .285/.327/.507/.834, 174 HRs, 1 MVP, 2 Gold Gloves

While putting in significantly more time in Montreal it’s pretty clear he played his best ball in Chicago.  All of his rate stats are better for the Cubs and his counting stats are damn close considering the game discrepancies.

I have to admit that I have always associated Dawson with the Cubs since I grew up in the 80s. I remember spending my summers at my friends house and watching the Cubs on WGN a lot. It was a good unit at the time and I hadn’t quite developed the level of hate in my heart that I now have. That was around the time I became a big Mark Grace fan (fuck you Will Clark).

But I don’t care what lid he wears into the Hall. I happen to prefer the old Expos caps to the Cubs hats more for the fact that I honestly dislike the Cubs more than from an aesthetic reason. Also, the city of Montreal deserves a boost after losing their lousy team to the District. And because of the 1994 strike that took away their best shot at winning a World Series. Also fuck the North side of Chicago.

I ask this question because there is a steady tide of people who are going to vote Jack Morris into the Hall one day. He is over 50% and the steady tide of he was “the best big game pitcher of the 1980’s” is gaining steam. I am the first to admit his Game 7 performance in 1991 is the greatest World Series pitching performance ever. Yes, even better than Don Larsen. 10 innings of Shutout ball in a deciding game is unbelievable. He a member of 3 World Series Championship teams and was the best pitcher on two of them. But couldn’t the same be said for Andy Pettitte?

Andy Pettitte is looked at in a similar way. He is a winner and was one of the best two pitchers on 4 World Championship teams and the third best on a 5th. He pitched some of the biggest games of the time. All he did was win games. His ERA may have been slightly high but he was a winner. Sound like the same argument for Morris? So what if his ERA was 3.90 he won games and that is all that mattered. Well, let us look at the numbers. Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently there was some form of Hall of Fame announcering going on today, but MLB’s attempt to out-shout us will be denied.  Buckeye Nation (Me, Spence, and NickP), be proud as we salute the greatest catches in the history of the last decade’ish of The Ohio State University (and therefore, among the greatest catches in the history of football).

The Inaugural Class of the Hall of Fame of Greatest Ohio State Buckeye Catches* is comprised of exactly three catches:  Michael Jenkins, Jake Ballard, and Anthony Gonzalez. Jenkins preserved the National Championship season.  Ballard went Air Jordan on the Ducks, leading the way to a Rose Bowl win.  Gonzalez, sacrificing himself, kicked Michigan in the teeth with an amazing catch, down 2, with 45 seconds to play.

Note: All nominees must have received a minimum 3 votes from the Official MLJ HOF Election Committee.

Read the rest of this entry »

In an astounding turn of events, Bert Blyleven missed the Hall of Fame by just 5 votes, garnering 74.2% of the vote.  75% is needed to get in.

In other news, only Andre Dawson was voted in and he is expected to hold out until 5 voters change their mind.*

*Possibly not true.

As you can see in plain sight, Mariano Rivera spits on baseballs. This is cheating. I have always felt in my heart that he was a cheater so now that there is visual evidence, I feel vindicated. It takes a “True Yankee” to cheat the way he has for all these years. So to Mariano Rivera, welcome to the club of cheating Yankee assholes. May you take your rightful place with Alex Rodriguez. Roger Clemens, Jason Grimsley, Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco, Ricky Bones, Kevin Brown, Bobby Estelella, Glenallen Hill, Darren Holmes, Derek Jeter, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Dan Naulty, Denny Neagle, Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield, Mike Stanton, Randy Velarde, Ron Villone, Rondell White, Todd Williams and Mickey Mantle.

I hope the Baseball Writers leave you off the ballot for the Hall of Fame. You have embarrassed yourself, your team, your family and your sport. For Shame. Read the rest of this entry »

Hank Aaron apparently had a lot to say yesterday from Cooperstown:

“My feeling has always been the same – the game of baseball has no place for cheaters,” Aaron said Sunday morning. “There’s no place in the Hall of Fame for people who cheat.”

In declaring for the first time that he would want an asterisk put on the achievements of any steroid cheats elected to the Hall of Fame, Aaron brought up Rose, who, in August of 1989, was given a lifetime ban for gambling on baseball, saying: “I would like to see Pete in. He belongs there.”

Cheating is cheating. If you are betting on baseball games that you are either managing or playing in, you are a worse cheat than a steroid user. Steroid users are only trying to make themselves better at the game of baseball, which is everything that we should want from our favorite players. Gambling freaks are more worried about their bottom line, not about what happens on the field. If this weren’t true, Rose would’ve bet on every game, not a select few that he thought his team had a chance in.

There were no signs in MLB clubhouses that taking performance enhancing drugs were against the rules. “No gambling on baseball” signs have been prevalent since before your grand pappy’s pappy died.

The lesson here – according to Mr. Aaron – is that cheating in baseball is okay if you are breaking the hit record. You should only be kept from the Hall of Fame if your cheating helped you break Mr. Aaron’s record.

Randy Johnson won his 300th game this past week and I’m guessing he doesn’t finish this season let alone start another so we’re getting to the point where it’s not only okay to talk about his Hall of Fame induction there’s very little about Randy Johnson worth talking about right now.  And since Randy’s a lock not only for the Hall but as a first ballot inductee with at least 98% of the vote, there’s really no point in talking about his chances there either.  Instead, let’s talk about what lid he wears when he gets in.

Seattle Mariners, 2:1 odds.  Randy became famous in Seattle and earned his reputation there as being a top notch pitcher.  He won his first Cy Young in Seattle in 1995 when he went 18-2 with an ERA of 2.48 (an ERA+ of 192) and came in 2nd two years later (to that cheater Roger Clemens).  But he was also wild when we first came to Seattle and was decidedly average his first four years there despite his high strikeout totals posting ERA+’s of 92, 108, 103, and 105.   While in Seattle he lead the league in K’s four times, but he also lead the league in walks three times (and HBP twice)–there were control issues that needed to be worked out.

Still, once you show up in Little Big League (one of the most underrated baseball movies out there IMO) as a Mariner it’s almost a lock.  Read the rest of this entry »

A few days ago, with little fanfare or discussion, Curt Schilling quietly retired. No one even mentioned . It was not reported. At all. With the no reporting on the subject I have seen very little, “Is Curt Schilling a Hall of Famer” articles.* Well, that got me thinking, Is Curt Schilling a Hall of Famer? Well, I put it to my MLJ cohorts and those who replied gave me the following:

clown: No. If he gets in Moose should get in.

Cousins of Ron Mexico: Yes, but only because I don’t give a shit about the rich history of the game. If you’re going to put him in, Jay Peyton and Ollie Perez might as well go too.

Spencer096: Yes. The bloody sock was the tits. Fuck Bert Blyleven.

NickP: Yes. Larkin in 2009.

1 Happy St: Yes. But so is Dave Concepcion because of the Topps card with the Red hat drawn on it and Andre Dawson because his nickname was the Hawk and he was as graceful as a three-legged horse. Fuck Bert Blyleven. Read the rest of this entry »

Kurt Warner standing on the sidelines. A familiar occurrence for more than half of his career.

The biggest load of garbage to come out of the Arizona Cardinals run to the Super Bowl is that because Kurt Warner lead a team to his third Super Bowl, he is now a Hall of Famer. Really? How did that happen? The guy has been a full time starter for 5 of his 11 seasons in the NFL. That in itself should end the conversation. But I am going to hear from the moron patrol (NFL writers, sports talk hosts, and over-reactionary sheep) that he has gone to three Super Bowls and done it with two other teams and that doesn’t happen and blah blah blah. My response, so what? If you can not be a full time starter for more than half of your career you are not a Hall of Famer. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hall of Fame results came in yesterday and, as with every year, some fans are apoplectic about the inclusion and exclusion of some players.  While some are arguing that Jim Rice shouldn’t have gotten in, others are busting veins over the fact that Bert Blyleven was passed over.

Since it is rare when sure thing players like Ricky Henderson come along, there is always going to be debate on the merits of those players that were amazing without falling into the “once in a generation” realm.  I happen to belong to the school of thought that the Hall of Fame is defined more by who it excludes than who it includes.  By saying, “sorry, but this player doesn’t meet our standards,” the Hall sets itself up as the last bastion of excellence.  Now some would argue that the Hall has already allowed too many fringe players; that it has become diluted by including some who are right on the cusp of the standards without exceeding them.  In doing so, it lessens the achievements of the players that deserve to be there.

So for those who feel that there are too many people being inducted each year, here’s the number of players to be inducted for the past 15+ years by garnering more than 75% of the BBWAA vote (this list does not include Veteran’s Commitee selections, managers, or executives): Read the rest of this entry »